Side trip to Lesotho "Kingdom in the Sky"

Northern Lesotho

My next destination was Lesotho. This small kingdom is an enclave in the Republic of South Africa; it is completely surrounded by South Africa. Lesotho a very mountainous country and so is also called "Kingdom in the sky". Because of the altitude, it is really cold in wintertime. With really cold I mean really cold - they have a lot of snow there! Winter was already gone, but in the evening no one stayed voluntarily outdoors! My time in Lesotho was wonderful. Two days, I spent in the northern part of the country in a tiny village with a family. They had put up a self-made sign in the main street advertising a homestay. Curious as I am, I went there to have a look, how a homestay looks like in Lesotho.
I write on purpose that I went there - it was absolutely impossible to drive to the village! At least not by using my small normal car. By 4x4 yes, but not with my small normal car. But well, local people also walk a lot here, and besides, it was only one kilometer to cover by foot....
However, this homestay was really nice, absolutely quiet, no power, no running water. Great food cooked by the mother and grandmother of my English speaking host. (Grandma is 107 years old, by the way!!!!). People here go to bed with the chickens and in the morning they are woken up by the same chickens (well - minus one quite big cock...). Milk, fruit, vegetables, jam, and bread - everything was home-made. Only tomatoes, they bought at the market, when grandma realized, that I like them whatever time of the day it is!

In Lesotho there are many caves with old rock paintings, some of them up to 6000 years old. They show people, animals and mythical figures. Many of these paintings are very well-preserved and are now protected by the government.